Improve taser training for police, report says

From the September 12th edition of The Globe and Mail:

OTTAWA — National standards, more resources and better co-ordination are needed to ensure officers are properly trained to use taser stun guns, says a report commissioned by the RCMP.

The review also concludes the Mounties did not perform “due diligence” when they approved tasers for use earlier this decade, relying on incomplete and sometimes factually incorrect information.

In some cases, RCMP officers don't have access to tasers loaded with simulation cartridges, meaning members must resort to scenarios in which one yells “bang, bang” and another feigns being hit, the report says. “There is a need to ensure that all members have access to proper equipment and consistent training.”

The report was ordered by RCMP Commissioner William Elliott following last October's high-profile incident involving Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant who died after he was tasered by Mounties at Vancouver International Airport.

The report, released under the Access to Information Act, says the RCMP did not get enough input from medical and mental-health experts about the device's impact on people.

It says the Mounties relied too much on advice from the stun gun's Arizona-based manufacturer, and did not treat the taser as a “prohibited firearm” – its proper legal classification.

“Many of the resulting problems in the RCMP policy-development process might have been avoided” had the force sought out impartial researchers to conduct studies “that could detect and take into account potential police and manufacturer biases,” concludes the 129-page report.

To read the entire article, click here.

Also see:
DOCUMENT: The independent Taser review (PDF file)